- Fans around globe engrossed in FIFA World Cup
- FIFA+ tells story of Indian fan Apurv Nagpal, who is attending seventh tournament
- Apurv’s wife and children are equally infatuated with competition and in Qatar
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ is engaging viewers around the world and intriguing millions of people outside the 32 competing nations.
Among the legion of supporters from six inhabited continents who descended on Qatar for the tournament is Apurv Nagpal, an Indian football fanatic who views the World Cup as a celebration of humanity. Apurv shares his love of the sport with wife Ritu and children Anvam and Anvika. And FIFA+ caught up with the family on their latest World Cup adventure.
Football is rapidly gaining popularity and participants in India, where cricket is traditionally king. The FIFA+ documentary Kick Off | Captain Fantastic, released this year, shone a light on the uplifting story of Sunil Chhetri, the Indian national team forward and third highest international scorer among contemporary players, behind only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Chhetri doesn’t receive the global acclaim of that celebrated duo, but the 38-year-old is revered in his homeland, heralded as a flagbearer for the sport as India’s greatest striker and the first footballer from his country to transfer to a European club after joining Sporting Clube de Portugal in 2012.
By that time, Apurv had attended three World Cups – after stumbling across his first one in 1998. On holiday in France, he discovered a party in full swing. Enquiring after the occasion, Apurv was told, “It’s the World Cup… there’s a party every night”. He was soon watching a game in Marseille. More to the point, Apurv was hooked.